~Shades of Grey~

#1

(OOC: Anything goes! EXCEPT...no one line replies, and no god-like abilities, e.g. invulnerability to everything. :) have fun! )

The morning had come with swift abandon, shedding red liquid light over the fertile land. The trees sung as their leaves blew madly in the strong breeze and dew made the grass seem as if adorned with diamonds. But someone somewhere did not see it's beauty.

This someone was Fletch Refox. A shape shifter. Her ability to change into the form of a red fox at will was the reason she had been cast out, and yet the reaosn why she had been taken in and initiated into the foxkin. A close knit group of assassins each with a curious attachment to foxes. A fox paced solemly at her side, grey with black tips on ears and tail.He was her familiar Bram bound to her with a mutual will to her. He sniffed the air cautiously and Fletch was immediately awar ehe sensed another in the early morn. She looked around her. her eyes were like golden orbs, flecked with a red brown, startlingly similar to her familiars. Her hair however was a deep deep red, almost black. She wore a simple garment of skirt and top. Teh top wa sfashioned in a corset like manner, all the better to stash her variety of knives and poisons she carried with her. At her hip hung a small panpipe, something she was accustomed to playing int he eventide before she hunted with Bold.

Her thoughts shgifted as she saw someone move amongst the close set trees and brambles. "Show yourse;lf" she said her voice strangely accented and level.

~Shades of Grey~

#2

The rustling revealed itself to be a large fox of somewhat mongrel breeding. He was red, but had a strong brown shade to his coat. Certainly not the gorgeous sleek fox epitomized in the fox hunts of old. The fox had a certain amount of bulk, half again as large as a normal fox. Some ignorant peasants might mistake him for a small red wolf, or perhaps a wild dog.

His eyes, a strange luminous green, fell on Fletch. There was intelligence there, lurking behind the animalistic eye shine. He moved a step towards her, eyes flashing from Fletch to her fox familiar, and back. Appraising her. His nose flared, drawing in the smell of Fletch, more complex and revealing than any visual image, or percieved sound. Emotions, fear, danger, all of those have a scent.

The fox looked at her, his gaze almost a silent demand of why she had entered the territory he claimed as his.

~Shades of Grey~

#3

Fletch regarded the wolf passively, the hackles on Bram's neck had begun to rise in a fashion of defense. She stooped low until she knelt her eyes on level with his own. As she dipped her head submissively and in acceptance of his domination a light russet streak of hair fell forward from it's niche in the wave of red-black hair. As she met his eyes once more she did not speak but gazed back, she had accepted his stance but would not offer him her throat.

"I mean no offense" she said calmly regarding his size estimating him to be a good hands length taller than herself when in fox form. "I do not seek to extend my on territory. I did not sense another living here". She wondered why. Her senses were often so acute she could tell a member of her foxkin brethern three regions away.

She still looked into his eyes curious as to how he would respond. If challanged she would rise to the occassion but she hoped it would not come to such violence. There were far more important issues at hand.

~Shades of Grey~

#4

The large fox was satisfied, her words were sincere, and he could smell no fear, nor the wrongness that clung to some of the two-legs like the green slime that occassioned to cover the still ponds. Curiously, her smell was strangely similar to that of a vixen, even though she was obviously one of the two legs.

He ventured a step closer, letting his head drop a notch. Still dominant, but curious. Few two legs ventured into his stretch of the wood, and those few were quickly run out. That one would come without fear, and with the scent of a vixen, gave him pause.

He spared her companion a short glance. It had bristled, but with the passage of many winters, he knew a bluff when he saw it. The young fox would try to protect the vixen-woman, but would loose in such a confrontation.

He didnt want to fight when this strange creature had come to him. He was, by nature, curious, not a fighter or a killer, though he had done both.

~Shades of Grey~

#5

A week of straight riding and nothing. Just forest and more forest.

Asheel was in a particularily bad mood. Not that he wasn't always in a bad mood, but normally he would upset that by riding into a town and forming an undead army from those who he had recently fallen. But out here only this cursed forest remained. Sure, there were animals and wildlife, but and army of mice and chipmonks? Not likely. As far as he was concerned, this whole forest was no more than kindling.

And now that the thought struck his mind, it seemed like a good idea. This whole forest WAS kindling. Kindling for the fire that would cleanse and purge this forest of life that was so grating on his nerves.

Thanatos and Yama took their orders without so much as a signal, almost as if Asheel, Thanatos, and Yama were of one mind. Each took a flask of oil and threw it aimlessly around. It was asheel who lit the torch and threw it into the oil covered leaves.

The fire took immediately, spreading into an inferno, growing in size and intesity until little could stop it.

Asheel laughed as he watched the red blaze that was once so peacefull. Asheel, Thanatos, and Yama kept their' horses moving just out of the inferno's reach. They would probably continue to do so until Asheel became bored and rode off in a sideways direction away from the blaze.

But for now, he watched and enjoyed...

~Shades of Grey~

#6

The trees overhead, were of a bronze brown as Callista looked into them with great intent. She sat bolt upright as she heared a slight crackle from one side of her, she looked around her expecting to see a person ar animal come through the trees, but nothing came, the crackling countinued becoming louder and louder as it came closer and closer, in an instence the forest around her was fire red, she screamed as the last opening became shrouded in flame, "HELP" she screamed, scraping up her stuff in a swift moment, she was trapped in a tight circle, nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, "help please, help" she called over the roaring inferno, she stared around desperatly looking for an escape route, nothing nowhere was this the end?

~Shades of Grey~

#7

After about 2 minuites the inferno had become more compact, around her she could feel the heat of it lashing at her face, she thought it was time to take action, her eyes flashed from a bright blue to a dark crimson red almost black and then they closed, she sat down on the floor of the tiny circle, and where she sat there was a small blue patch starting to surroned her the blue started to get bigger and develop into waves, and then it was as big as a house a huge tidal wave and on top was Callista still with her eyes closed concentrating as hard as she possible could the tidal wave suddenly crashed down on the floor quenching the flames, riding on the wave was Callista, her eyes now open, the waves seemed to be riding in her eyes too, as if they came from her eyes originally, her wave swept over the entire forest, untill all that was left was smoking ass from some of the trees which she had failed to save, she was know stood on the ground her eyes back to normal she turned and looked at the damage both the water and the fire had caused.

~Shades of Grey~

#8

Fletch sufddeny stoppe,d the forest had filled with cry of disturbed birds and a stange warm breath of air permeated through the close set trees. Rasing her eyes skyward she saw the flocks of birds crying madly as in their irrational and confused flight they nearly collided.

Suddenly she looked at the fox before her, "NO!" she shouted in anger and panic. Her eyes suddenly became more slanted and her form shrunk and lenegthened until a fully formed vixen stood before him. She was indeed a fulls hands length shorter than he and she raised her head to the air scenting the smoke now becoming thicker in the air, its smell prominent. her ears twitched as the sound of a human cry could be heard. Bram also heard it and turned towards the direction. In truth she knew most full humans were more toruble than the were worth, and this fire was probably caused by the person whos anguished cries came piercingly through the trees, now louder and accentuated with her enhanced hearing. She did not care about the human so much but this forest and it's burning. She set her jaw firmly as if it had been a personal assault upon herself.

Bram had taken a step towards the cry of help. Fletch did not know what to do. The fox/wolf hadn't responded to her earlier, but then communication between species was always hard. Now like him she wondered if he could respond. She thought and concentrated, The flames will eat this whole forest, the humans must put it out!. She took a final glance at him befor ebounding fof towards the area of fire to see how bad the situation was, her brush tail sweeping th air in a graceful arc before she left. She wondered if he would follow.

~Shades of Grey~

#9

The old fox's nose tasted the smoke in the air, the cry of the birds perked his ears. He felt a moment of shock as he saw the vixen woman change shape, seeming to flow into the lithe form of a normal vixen. There is another?, the old fox wondered as he turned to follow her.

His animal instinct told him to flee from the fire, there was nothing that a fox could do against flame except escape from it. But the allure of another who could alter shape was too important to ignore, to let vanish into heat smoke.

He caught another scent, horse flesh, leather...two-legs on their mounts, several from the melange of the odor. There was a hint of horse fear in the scent, the animals were unsettled by the flames that were surely ahead. These two-legs might be the instigators of the flame. No cloud, no lightning to strike and ignite the dry timber, it was the work of two-legs.

He had her scent, could find her again, unless she crossed running water, but sometimes he had been lucky and carried a scent across the stream. It was tricky, but the possibility of letting two-legs go unpunished was unbearable.

The old fox broke away from the vixen and her companion in the direction of the horse smell. Within a minute he had crossed a good deal of forest, darting through the deer trails and underbrush, a red and brown missle, hunter of the woods.

He felt the change as it momentarily liquified his flesh, the muscles rippled and swole as bones increased in mass, and size. He had rarely used the strange ability gifted to him by the moon, but now it would be useful.

There was a rumbling sound, then there was water...everywhere. The wave, an unimaginable thing in this area washed over him. His small body was lifted and carried like a rag doll on the surge of water. Instead of fighting the momentum he let it carry him until he spied a safe place to try and lodge himself. He held fast in the tangled web of a trees roots, suddenly exposed by the water.

His nose tasted the air again. So much was disrupted by the sudden surge, and the smell of wet wood, and mulch were strong. He could still smell the horses, and the two legs. Apparently the wave upset them like it had to to the old fox himself.

He regained his footing, finding the undulations in the land where the water was receding, stalking along the trunks of uprooted small trees, and hillocks that grew above the corpses of giant trees long fallen. He avoided the water, there was still some current to it, and it would not do to be swept away again.

Two of the two-legs were unseated from their animals, one of which still lay on the ground, trying to right itself. One, a large male, had regained it's footing and had drawn a large weapon, the other had escaped on his horse, and the last lay in the water. Perhaps the water had done him a favor and taken one already, but that was unlikely.

Were they still in a neat line, he would have attacked, tearing at horse legs, upseting the mounts, possibly throwing the riders, harming them. They were wary now, and much more dangerous. The old fox hung well back in the remaining brush, his mottled coat blending into the debris. They would not stay on guard forever, they would sleep eventually.

OOC: There.

~Shades of Grey~

#10

Fletch heard the large fox behind her but as she moved forwards his footfalls behind her grew fainter until they completely dissappeared. SHe did not know where he had gone but that hse had not been punished for travelling on his teritory had been enough she supposed after some of the characters she had met.

The warmth had soon become unbeaable and the smell of her fur as it wa singed by the heat soon sent of an unpleansant smeel that hung around her head. The smoke burned her eyes slighlty and made her lungs sting so each breath seemed too small to fill her lungs. She could still hear the cries and soon saw their origin. She was by now giving small pants as she moved Bram at her side in a similar condition.

She jumped over a log and looked at the pitiful human trapped in it''s flaming cage. She cocked her head slighty and paused as she panted, her tongue heavy with the taste of ash. She wondered what to do. She did not wish redemption for any human though in all truth she could become one, she was too embittered by the many years of abuse she had seen humans load onto the fragile balance of land. She stood a moment lokoing closer. This human was in distress, and surely if she started the fire she would not stand unknowingly among it?

In a final decision she jumped through a small part where the fire burnt low and gave aloud bark. She had the woman's attention. She jumped back through the gap merely showing her the way and then walke da few apces back where the air was less warm and she could breathe more freely.

~Shades of Grey~

#11

Something had gone wrong the tidal wave had not succefully got rid of the fire, it had by any means made it more feroious, she turned as she heared a small bark, and there stood a blurred out line of what looked like a fox, Callista moved forward towards where the fox stood, the flames licked at her face as she started to run, Callista covered her eyes as she ran trying to see where the fox had disappered to her ebony hair flowed out behind her, there it was the exit, she began to run as fast as she could but then a burning branch, fell in her path, she fell back as the branch cut into her arm, she gasped as blooed sarted to run down her arm, she looked her eyes blurrey from the imensce smoke, her head began to drift as she inhaled more and more smoke, she began to feel dizzy and then she fell to her knees, she couldnt breathe, she was wondering why her spell hadn't worked was there a curse on this forest to stop anyone using spells, her head span and she fell flat on her face her bright blue eyes closed and she had passed out.

~Shades of Grey~

#12

OOC: Um, ok, your not allowed to determine what effect your actions had on MY characters. My horses are included in this effort. I believe i have not so much as given you a description of the three men, and the horse you just attacked was wearing heavy armor plates. Not only that, but my character was right outside the inferno. I believe that Callista flooded the area. A flood that extensive would probably bring a good foot to two feet of water AFTER the wave hit. Until it dissapates, everybody is going to be slowed down and less mobile, including me to a much lesser extent (riding a hooved, long legged animal which would be able to navigate two feet of water much easier). I am still hindered in movement, but i have an advantage until the water level drops. Over all, i am going to ignore that last post because you ignored a lot of other things.

IC:
Water gushed forth, The trio was not caught off gaurd by the wave (they saw and heard it coming) but were unable to properly compensate for the wave in time. Of the three men, Thanatos, on heavy horse, and wearing heavy armor, was lease able to compensate for the wave, and was thrown violently to the ground. He landed hard, almost having the wind knocked out of him, right before the wave, still moving forewards, struck him, tumbling him across the ground for several feet.

Asheel, in a lighter armor, and a more nimble horse, was able to turn around and go a few feet before the wave struck his back. It jostled him harshly, but aside from sending some of his supplies downstream, did little.

Yama, the archer, being on an unarmored and aggressively agile horse, avoided the crash of the wave entirely, but not by much. He was soon around to help bring Thanatos up to his feet and just as soon to draw and knock a crystal tipped arrow.

Asheel was soon turned around towards the source of the wave, his morningstar now ready for use, while Thanatos drew with haste back upon his horse, still not yet readied with his Bastard sword.

What had caused that he wondered, and his searching revealed a soul in the distance. It was humanoid. He was confused as to how he had not detected it, but for the moment it was still. He was about to ride after this person who would destroy his creation, but noticed another soul. This time he was not entirely sure what it was. How sloppy of him to miss two souls. He was getting sloppy. That one was on the move. He would wait for a minute and see what it did. No need to act in haste...

~Shades of Grey~

#13

OOC: yes i do agree i did say in the post that i sent a tidal wave of water to finish the fire, but when she changed that i just ignored my post and countinued with hers, which are we countining Fletch's or darkshadow's im getting rather confused in this one!!

IC: "I wonder who started, this fire" thought Callista as she looked at the destruction from both fire and water, it was obvious that it was man-made, but who or what had made it, she looked around her, but did not see a single soul, she heared the whinny of horses from a distance away, Callista furrowed her brow intently, wondering who it was who was riding horses through a burning down forest, her wave had surly slowed them down, but would they be know coming after her instead?

~Shades of Grey~

#14

OOC: Darkshadow, have you ever seen horse barding? Obviously not as it affords no protection for the rear legs of a horse. Those limbs are not threatened during general battle, and thus for matters of weight conservation, are not armored. Horse barding coveres the face, neck, chest, sides, and rear, no covering is afforded for the legs. Sorry there.
As for descriptions of your characters, the old fox doesnt care what you look like, or what you are wearing. Arms and armor, for that matter were made to fight human sized opponents, not wolves and foxes.
If there is two feet of rapidly running water that came out of nowhere, just about everyone, including all of your horses are going to be knocked over as their feet are swept out from underneath them. It can sometimes be harder to keep four feet stable than just two. Thanatos is likely going to be carried until something stops his movement, like a tree or something. Taking a wave to the back, Asheel is going to be face first in the ground, choking on water.
Obviously you didn't like what the fox did to your animal. I dont think I took too many liberties, as it would be easy for you to post a 'hobbling recovery' and maintain your footing. AND, you make the assumption in timing that wave arrives before the old fox does, i assumed the opposite.
Now, we can bicker and argue over this and act very much like children, or we can apologize, and continue playing.

I apologize for taking too many liberties with your horse. It shant happen again.

~Shades of Grey~

#15

OOC: sorry for whatever i did?? which i don't quite know what it was!! maybe it might be best to start this one again, then we won't all be so confused, do you agree

~Shades of Grey~

#16

Callista, you didnt do anything wrong. Darkshadow didn't like what i did to his horse. I dont think we need to start over.

~Shades of Grey~

#17

In the sky above the forest appeared a twinkling star in the sky that descended from the eastern horizon into the smoke above the forest. In a small meadow not far from a fire blackened clearing a metal object set down. It was ten meters long, five meters wide, and seven meters high. It looked like a large rectangular stone carved out of metal, one end had a slit about one meter high and three meters wide and was shiny black color that reflected the sunlight. Two barrels projected below the slit and ended in muzzels. The opposite end was a bleak maw which a pale blue smoke wafted out of. There were several seams along the ship that might have suggested sliding parts or opennings but without proper skills or experiance it would mean nothing to most people. One panel slid open the size of an average man, and a not so average figure stepped out. He was full intombed in matte black armor that was non-reflective, a single monocule glared red from the helmet, it had an ominous air that seemed to see right through the smoke sweeping through the woods. His right gaunlet clutched an odd looking shot spear that eneded in a open hole rather than a point, several other things looked not quite right about it.

He swept the aera with his eye then moved deeper into woods. He strode though the steaming clouds that rose up from the ground. Out of the billowing steam he came and appeared infront of the vixen and the other creature. He stopped, the man behind the mask stared at the screen showing him what was infront him. The young foxvixen had odd markings, he didn't even notice the other creature, a small window poped up on the screen it scrolled different pictures of foxes till the one in it matched the one beform him. A smaller tab extended off the picture window, it read. "Foxkin Fletch Refox; Bounty sponsored by SRC (Sansen Rare Creature Inc); 250,000 SGC's (Standard Galactic Credit)."

The bounty hunter raised his right arm with a dazzling blue flash and a high pitched whine, a stutter fire of blue bolts filled the gap of ten meters between the hunter and the foxkin vixen, one hit a stray deer and it hit the ground as if frozen.

~Shades of Grey~

#18

OOC: ok have i put the fire out or not, cause know Luke thinks the forest is still alight, i did say in my second post that i sent a tidal wave to put the fire out, is that is in action or no, alright so we will just try and work this one out then yes, because i don't know whats going on at the moment i will wait intill someone replys and then i will carry on with it ok.

~Shades of Grey~

#19

OOCA: This is actually DarkShadow here. I forgot to sign off my friends account before posting, so just ignore the name.

OOC: (On no hostile terms) You still took liberties with my characters, and so i am still ignoring your post. Its not that i could not recover, but if you say what happens to my characters then all of my little surprises that you are not aware of don't go into effect. I am still ignoring your post (not that i have anything against you, but it is the principle of the thing that you are not allowed to dictate results). Also, callista already stated that the fire had been extinguished by the wave, therefore you could not have outrun it and reached me if you posted after she did (which you did (again no hard feelings)) As for the whole wave thing i will say now that you are right that the horses probably would have fallen from the wave. Consider Asheel to have withstood a mild cuncussion that lasted for about 5 seconds or so when he hit the ground almost head first. He has just come up gasping and coughing for air. Yama still out-ran the wave, so he suffered nothing from an impact, but the two feet of water is now about him. Thanatos hit the ground hard on his shoulder, but is pretty much unharmed. The horses managed to get back up without too much trouble.

So, the current status is: There is about two feet of water everywhere. The fire is out, leaving a charred grey forest filled with smoke. Thanatos (the biggest) is on his feet with sword drawn, but not on his horse. Yama has bow drawn and is still mounted and is farther down than the others. Asheel has just come up for air after having inhaled some water and although he is still gasping for air and coughing and gagging, he is relatively unhurt, but will not recover for a good while.

And howabout we all take it from that point with the wave just having hit, or if you want to describe it hitting, make sure to also include a few moments after the water settled so that we can at least be at the same point in time and then we can resume from there.

If that is not too much of a problem with anybody, then we can put all of this ugly "OOC" stuff behind us and continue with the story.

And again, no hostilities, just clearing up some ground rules and events.

~Shades of Grey~

#20

OOC: seems fair enough to me.

~Shades of Grey~

#21

OOC: Ok fire is out. I got kinda of confused with about that, I'll fix my post.

~Shades of Grey~

#22

OOC: right ok that has cleared a few things up for me.

IC: the wave splashed over the inferno, extingushing it to just a smoldering ash of tree and a thin line of smoke still rising from the charred reckage, the wave had washed angrily in each direction going about a mile in diameter each way, after the wave had been and gone, the forest was still within a two meter layer of after water which laid on the ground making it quite hard to stand in one place for too long before sinking, Callista, stood and looked around at her work, she had put out the fire but she didn't think of the damage the water would do to the forest alone, she turned just about to leave this place when she heared some horses just in the distance, "maybe they are the people who started this fire? maybe i should just stay here intill they pass" Callista stood for a while lifting her feet acasunuly just to make sure she wasn't sinking into the mud left everywhere from the water.

~Shades of Grey~

#23

(OOC: Sorry!!! I didn't see the post about the tidal wave..i have no idea how I didn't! But assuming it is a tidal wave wouldn't it have destroyed alot fo the forest, knowcked down trees and such? killed all animals who couldn't get out of the way. e.g. both fox characters plus the horses and their riders as we had no means to 'jump' over a tidal wave. I dont see the big thing about writing things that affect everyone, a writer's ability to adapt to what is written, such as what Callista did when i misunderstood (or became blind) is part of what makes roeplaying worth it, adaptability! So i reckon we should just continue, maybe bar the horses dying, but not the actual attack, after all you are invading a primal animals territory, have no way to communicate friendship with that creature and so what would it do? Of course it would attack, especially if there was a meal to be had? Can you see what i mean? SO mnay angles and so many, "well technically" 's so can we just get on with it and forget all the bickering?)

~Shades of Grey~

#24

OOC:yeah i'm all for that, i will wait for someone else to reply before countinuing

~Shades of Grey~

#25

(OOC: Well I'm going to have a go and continue this, hope you are all still here! I'll continue...after the tidal wave okay?...wet swampy ground etc, the horses have been wounded and so guy is obviously angry, knows there are 'vicious' creatures in the area, dont know where he is atm, cos I lost sight of him when I went to investigate the noise, okay...)

Fletch heard the rushing of water. it confused her senses, the closest river was not within hearing and yet the sound of moving water was loud. bram was standing alert and stiff at her side, his head grimly set towards their front. She took a pace backwards in a nervous action, the hackles on her neck bristled alarmingly. Adrenaline surged through her system causing her legs to tremlbe and her heart to pump quicke,r it's sound reverberating throughout her whole body in one giant pulse. Then she could see it, a veritable wall fo water came towards them. Although it had lost muhc of it's power moving through the close set trrees and bursh it was still powerful and ripped weaker bushes and plants up by their roots carrying them along with the strong current.

She found herself immersed in the cold water and lost sight of Bram as she was momentarily sucked under. WHen she came up to the surface again she found the water was getting more shallow as it spread further through the forest. Fletch soon could touch the bottom and it was soft and swampy underfoot. She shook herself vigoroulsy to remove the water from her fur and followed with a shake of her head, feeling releif as her ears emptieds of the unwanted water.

Bram had fared mush the same as herself and was shaking himself, licking his chest where he could reach much like a cat. She gave a small bark of happiness that they were both okay but then turned her head towards where the water had come from. Someone had stopped the burning she realised, she looked to Bram andhe sensing her purpose strode alongside her and soon both were running towards where the wave had come from, the air running past drying their fur.

Soon bth stood solitary as they encountered the bringer of the enchanted water works.

~Shades of Grey~

#26

So much was damaged, the paths were gone, obliterated by the weight of the wave. The old fox had seen many things in his time, but certainly never anything quite like a wave. He picked his way away from the two-legs and their mounts. There would be time for them later. He was curious to see if the vixen had survived.

He found his way quickly through the debris, stopping on occassion to shake off a cascade of water, or to lick at a spot on his flank, or leg. His fur was matted down against his body, and clung uncomfortably. An hour basking on a hot rock in the light of the sun would do nicely, but tat too could wait.

He gave a small yip of excitment, he wandered across her track. He could smell her, heading away from him. He started to follow the track and could smell her companion return also. Neither smelled hurt. That was good. He followed until the debris lessened, and larger trees were toppled, there was muddy ash underpaw. This was where the fire was, and the wave was close by in origin. He entered the newly created clearing and found the vixen, her companion, and a two-legs female that smelled of lightning and moonlight.

Should they look to see him, they would see a soggy brownish red fox, obviously having seen much more pleasant days. He was beyond the normal bounds of her territory, but all of his markers were gone, washed away, new territory would have to be declared before he could demand submission. Curiosity and a measure of though produced something entirely new to the old fox. Patience.

~Shades of Grey~

#27

Callista stood staring at the three foxes which now stood before her, she got to her knees and whispered in a faint voice "I am sorry, for ruining your forest it seems to me" Callista looked up and looked around the wreckage but countinued to speack "that my wave did more damage then the fire did" her eyes lowered to the floor, her knees know sopping wet "if there is anything that i can do to fix the forest up a bit i have a small amount of healing powers for both objects and human's including animals, i also have the ability, to ask the sun to aid you to dry the floors"

~Shades of Grey~

#28

She awaited to see what the foxes would do, she was nervous she didn't know wether they would attack her or maybe assist her on her journey which she had been on before the fire had come upon her, she had been searching for her home-land. Long ago she had lost her memory after having a large bang on the head, and know piece by piece it was all coming back to her, she had rembered that she had a guardian some sort of dog-wolf type thing, or maybe even a fox, she had been taken far far away from her home-land because of the war which was upon the city, or what she had known to be a city, she had rembered that her father had sent her away with her guardian, Callista screwed up her eyes, trying to remeber more about this guardian, but for some reason she felt comfortable around these three, her voice once again rang out "I am Callista, i am an elf warrior," she looked surprised at these words, she had never told anyone this before, partly because she did not remeber it till now,

~Shades of Grey~

#29

The old fox twitched his nose, tasted her smell. She had a clean smell under that of lightning and moonlight, and he smelled no malice, but the faint spice of fear. he walked closer to her, his nose twitching still as he smelled her closer.

The scent of her boots, where she had come from. The smell of her clothing, her possessions, all of it created a picture in his mind. A traveler, and she carried none of the acrid smell that he had passed among the ashes. He sniffed her hand, close enough to touch...

He walked behind her. The fear smell rose some, but she remained calm. A hint of mischief curled his lips, even a small nip on the heel might send her running, or into a panic. He didnt feel like chasing her though it would be fun, like flushing the hares and chasing them to ground. He was still sore from the wave and being battered by the trees and such he hit before catching himself in a safe spot.

He caught the she-smell. Something inside his mind uncurled at that, something very much not vulpine, something to do with the two-legs shape, that shape he had only worn a single time and never since. He moved away from her, suddenly confused. Two-leg and fox instinct mangled one another. Agitated with himself, he began to pant.

The curiosity must be a trait of the two-leg, as his fox insticnt told him to leave, to run away. Let the vixen, and her companion, and the elf-she deal with what they were doing. The curious instinct wanted to stay...to smell them more, and be close to them.

~Shades of Grey~

#30

Callista shoke slightly as she sat and let the fox sniff around her, something called to her keep "keep them close to you, keep them near, get to now them, keep them close" the voice began to scream in her ears getting louder and louder then stopping as the fox stepped away, she gasped as she shook her head. "What is it fox what do you smell" she asked, she felt rather stupid talking to a fox knowing all to well that it couldn't understand a word she was saying, or could it?

~Shades of Grey~

#31

The old fox looked at her, his nose flairing. He understood her words, but there really wasnt a good way to answer. If she were a fox there would be no question, she would know what he smelled, what he smelled for. The scent of fear, or danger, or wrongness, or the smell of where she had come from, what it was like there.

He wanted to answer, but doing so would mean assuming the two-leg form, something he despized, with it's dead nose, and bumbling height. He feared the way his ears were muffled, and his eyes were blinded by the bright light. It was a wonder that the two-legs survived as they did, but seeing their handicaps he could understand why they were so angry and destructive.

He looked back to the vixen...and back to the elf. He panted more, agitated by his inner conflict. Run, or change: the options presented themselves to him. He should leave now, forget them, hunt for dinner. Or he should assume the two-legs form and their grunting language to speak with her, perhaps even with the vixen. Maybe she would assume the two-legs form, not that he needed her to change shape to speak with her.

He closed his eyes and let the moon ripple run through him. He felt his muscles loosen, gain a fluid quality as the bones underneath grew and straightened. There was a thrill as the flesh swole, and muscles grew considerably larger, as almost every two-leg was much larger than any fox.

He stood up, wrapped in the form of a two-legs. The world of smell faded, except for the tang of ash, and the general wet smell. He couldnt smell either of the females. He felt defenceless, naked without a coat of fine fur to protect him, keep him warm and dry. Well dry as it could in a torrent of water. The elf stood a few feet away from a young man with wild eyes, and long hair, and a good beard and mustache though she couldnt guess his age more than twenty years. He was completely naked.

~Shades of Grey~

#32

Callista for some reason did not seem to surprised, for some reason deep in her heart she was expecting something like this, she scanned the other two maybe they were the same, she giggled slightly as the man stood up straight, leaning over she picked up her cloack and handed it to him as if an offering of peace "here this should keep you warm, for the moment! what is your name?"Callista asked, well almost comanded, but she did not mean for it to turn out that way, she didn't wait for an answer "what were you sniffing me for? what did you smell?" she again looked towards the other two still standing motionless opposite them.

~Shades of Grey~

#33

The old fox stared at the garment before trying to put it on. He wrapped it around his midsection in a manner similar to tying a bath towel about the waste. He looked at the elf again, his eyes were a radiant amber, almost like sunlight.

"I dont have a name..." he said after a stuttering pause, the words unfamiliar and strange in his mouth. "I am just an old fox..." he said, for a human he was young, barely more than newly come to manhood, but for a fox his twenty or so years made him venerable, ancient among the vulpines.

"I cant smell much now, ash and wet. I was smelling you, your smell is like a name, how I would know you from another. If you were a fox you would do the same, smell me to learn my smell." The words were rougly put together, his movements were awkward and stiff.

~Shades of Grey~

#34

She took a few steps forward curious to now more, curious to find out as much as she could about this old fox and his companions, "you have no name! then i shall call you fox, for a nickname, is that ok with you?"she shrugged and countinued "did you find what you were sniffing for, fox?" she paused and awaited his answer.

~Shades of Grey~

#35

"Fox is a good name..." Fox said, this elf was beautiful, now that he stood as high as she did he could see into her eyes, and her her face. His own face felt scratchy, and well is should. It was a wild bramble of hair. Had he ever laid eyes on a lion he would think that he looked like one, as a human. "What is your name?" he asked.

"I know you are not an evil person, but you have some fear. I also know how you arrived here. You came across a high ridge, through a gap in the stone. There was a shallow valley on the other side, blackberries grow there, thick as the last joint of my thumb. I like to eat them sometimes, I know the smell of the land there. You might still have some, or at least carried a few away from that place. Then you crossed the second stream, where the bank on both sides is taken by the ivy. It too has a smell that will cling to a person, it is a wooden, dry smell, even when wet.

"I can also tell that you dont eat much meat, meat eaters have a different smell also. It is a slightly bitter smell, like dried blood. Your smell is sweet, you eat alot of fruit, like the berries and the other fruits that come from the trees."

"So I guess I did find what I was sniffing for." Fox said. He looked back at the vixen and her companion.

"I followed her, I saw her first as a two-legs like you, with her companion. Then she became a vixen, a she fox. I have never met another like me, another who change fox shape. I am much curious to speak with her, maybe she knows more of what I am." He said.

~Shades of Grey~

#36

Callista moved her head to the side listening intently to every word which came out of fox's mouth, her ebony hair fell down the side of her face still a little damp from the wave, "My name is Callista" how did he know all this, she thought to herself, her mind going from place to place searching for this lost information, suddenly her face lit up, she bent down picked up her small satchel and opened one of the pocket's, out of this pocket she pulled 3 largeish berries, she looked at them in her hand, but her eyes traveled up to the scar on her arm, she stroked it gently with her nimble fingers, her gaze went back to fox as she handed him the berries "these berries?" she asked, she again searched for the information he had just told her, she rembered the high ridge and the gap in the stone, but that was all she could remeber, she gazed into the eyes of fox as she thought about what he said, her deep blue eyes seemed to be searching his soul for something, something hidden, something formiliar in him, something that she would remeber but only from him, but she found nothing, she sighed as her eyes once again fell to the floor, as if looking for something to occupy her, his eyes, his beutiful eyes she thought to herself

~Shades of Grey~

#37

Asheel on the other hand actually WAS searching his soul. And Callista's and Fletch's. He was very annoyed. Partly at himself for missing all three of them. He had just overlooked two as foxes, and the third, well he didn't even know. But they had stopped his fire. He was very annoyed about that. Extremely so.he watched them talk for only a few moments after mounting his horse, and then, the three rode off. These nature watchers would die, and then they would serve him. All three had weapons drawn as they approached the small meeting site on horseback (read prior posts for descriptions).

Asheel was in the center, Thanatos was to the left, and Yama hung back to the far right.

~Shades of Grey~

#38

The bounty hunter looked dumbfounded at the group, what was wrong, didn't his attack work? He looked at his gun it seemed to be in working order so what was the deal? The group had completely ignored the stun bolts like it wasn't there. Maybe the this planet had strange electro magnetic fields and he thought he saw the blasts. He stepped out of the muddy brush and into the line of sight of the group. He stashed the gun on a thigh mounted holster. "By the power invested in me Galactic Bounty Commission, I serve all of your bounties. Fletch Refox, Bram, and you known as 'Fox'. You can some quietly or we can do this hard way." The Bounty HunterÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s voice had a flat metallic ring that sounded lifeless. He tapped his wrist twice and two steel grey blades slide out from the left and right bracers. The blades remained connected to the bracers at the base and had a surrogated edge on the outside and a sleek blade on the other. The bounty hunter held up one hand with and three fingers up, "Three..."

~Shades of Grey~

#39

Startled, Fox dropped the cloak and reduced back to his vulpine form. Who was this monster? Some sort of two-leg mutant? Smells assaulted him as he regained his animal senses. The two-legs had a horrible smell, nothing natural, all hard and spiky smells, like the tang of ash, and the stranger smell of something he didnt understand, strange materials. He smelled the other two-legs as well, the ones who started the fire. The horse smell was present also, they were mounted.

Panic welled up for a moment, caught between a bear and a pack of wolves. There was only one thing to do, let the bear handle the wolves. Fox bolted for the underbrush, zig-zagging to avoid anything the two-legs might throw towards him. Two-legs were infamous for throwing things, and shooting things with arrows and such.

This was a dangerous game, but he rounded in front of the trio of would be arsonists and barked a challenge at them, kicked dirt towards them with his back feet. He couldnt think of any other insults to use. He bolted back into the brush, hopefull that the three horsemen would give chase. He would lead them into the arms of the strange human.

OOC: I hope surrogated was supposed to be serrated

~Shades of Grey~

#40

Callista moved in front of the foxes "why do you need them" she shouted to the bounty hunter "what wrong have they done" she had watched as fox had ran out of the glade and then had came bolting back in again "leave them be" called out callista once again, she heared the faint footsteps of the horses coming closer, as the metal things flew towards them Callista pulled out a long sword from underneath her bag, the sound of metal hitting metal, echoed through the forest as the metal blades bounced of of the blade and fell harmlessly to the floor,